A unique Kentucky rye has been crowned the planet’s finest dram by the latest edition of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. Booker’s Rye 13 Years, 1 Month, 12 Days began life as an experiment by Booker Noe – grandson of Jim Beam – at the family distillery in Clermont, KY, shortly before his death in 2004. Now it has become his remarkable legacy after landing the title of World Whisky of the Year. Jim lavishes praise on its “brain-draining, mind-blowing” nose and finish of “amazing depth”. And he hails it as a “staggering example of a magnificent rye, showing exactly what genius actually means. A very big, unforgettable whiskey from a very big, unforgettable man”. Booker followed in his iconic grandfather’s footsteps by becoming master distiller at Jim Beam, but he was long-retired when he dabbled one final time. After he passed away aged 74, son Fred kept an eye on his casks – and the result is pure liquid gold, scoring 97.5 out of 100 in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. The champion dram had to hold off stiff competition from Scotland to land the title. Glen Grant Aged 18 Years Rare Edition is the first Scotch on the Whisky Bible podium since 2014. The Speyside malt blew away Jim as he tested 1,241 new samples for the latest edition of his influential guidebook.

He says: “It’s the best new offering from the motherland in a few years; a sensational return to form.” Third place went to another US tipple, the William Larue Weller (134.6 Proof) bourbon. Regional winners include: Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (Canadian Whiskey of the Year); Redbreast Aged 21 Years (Irish) ; English Whisky Co. Chapter 14 England (European); Yamazaki Sherry Cask (Japanese).

Editor’s Notes
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2017 marks 25 years since he became the world’s first full-time whisky writer and contains taste notes for around 5,000 drams.
Available from 17/10/16 at all good bookshops, retailers and whiskybible.com, priced £12.99.
Press enquiries: Vincent Flint-Hill +44 (0)117 317 9777; vincent@whiskybible.com

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.